In Progress

Source Rocks in Space and Through Time

Source Rocks in Space & Through Time

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Cost: $88k (USD) per Sponsor
Duration: 18 months

Principal Investigator(s):
Dr. Rasoul Sorkhabi
(801) 585-9070 
rsorkhabi@egi.utah.edu 

Sedimentary rocks, which are mature both in terms of their organic carbon content and thermal history, lie at the base of the petroleum system analysis. While the early history of petroleum exploration was characterized by identifying structural targets, the modern exploration workflow incorporates source rock risk factor as an immediate priority. A quantitative knowledge of the distribution of source rocks in space and through time has important implications not only for the global budget of hydrocarbon resources but also for evaluating the geologic conditions favorable for the generation of oil or gas on a regional scale. 

While much research work has been conducted on the geochemical processes involved in the source rocks, only a few publications have examined the world-wide, stratigraphic and lithological distributions of hydrocarbon source rocks in light of new analytical techniques, sedimentary concepts, and an enormous body of data from various basins around the world which have been collected over the past three decades. These considerations as well as the usefulness of ArcGIS platform for data storage and display have led us to develop this new research consortium with the participation of an advisory team from the industry. The significance of this research work is amplified in view of the recent trends in the industry to drill directly into source rock horizons.

 
Last Updated: 4/29/13